


The Lie They Told Themselves

by Rosella1356



Category: Stumptown (TV)
Genre: Especially if the reason you didn't try to get together was because of exes, Established Friendship, F/M, The platonic friendship doesn't work if you've already slept together, this has no plot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-07
Updated: 2019-10-07
Packaged: 2020-11-26 22:02:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,408
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20937443
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rosella1356/pseuds/Rosella1356
Summary: Dex reflects on the friendship she has with Grey and reaches a conclusion she didn't see coming. Their relationship has never been platonic, and she's tired of pretending. But how does she bring any of this up with Grey?





	The Lie They Told Themselves

They claim it’s only friendship. They’ve claimed it for years, six of them to be precise. Dex sits in his bar with his detox sitting in front of her with a smile on her face. And she reflects on the fact they still call it friendship. She won’t claim it’s not, because it is. 

Grey is the best person she’s ever met. He bails her out of jail when she gets arrested for following a lead on a case that she’s not supposed to be working. He drives to get her brother whenever he gets stuck someplace because she happens to get kidnapped. Sure, it has only happened once, but honestly that crazy of a scenario always deserves recognition.

She holds up the drink and tilts it towards Grey as her thoughts continue to spiral into comparison. She went to Miles the other night, and he let her leave just like Grey did. Only Grey stuck around, he helped her. Miles tries to act like they never slept together, but that they aren’t friends. She’s also not confident that he isn’t trying to manipulate for his job. 

A smile crosses her face as she glances over at Grey. She wonders whether he would still call their relationship platonic. She could see it being platonic if they both didn’t want to take it farther, but they both did. Not enough to cross their fears. Not enough to battle their demons. But enough to show up when the other needed them.

“What deep thoughts were enough to make the great Dex smile while drinking a detox?” Grey’s voice appears as he slides down the bar to stand in front of her. The lack of other customers at the bar tells her that he’ll be able to stay for a while and try to force her to answer his questions this time.

“Would you believe that it’s the thought of us and our relationship?”

“From you, yes. From anyone else, never.”

Dex chuckles at that one. He’s not wrong of course. Most people would believe that a relationship like theirs was doomed to fail long before it started. Once upon a time, she would have agreed with them. She didn’t think they’d get to this point. “Six years, huh?”

“Six of them. Friends until the end, even when you’re deciding to become a shady private investigator.”

Dex holds up her hands in the universal peace sign. She admits that the private investigator might be dragging her into just as much trouble as what she was trying to avoid, but lord, it was helping her quiet the voices in her head. “You know my demons.”

“Indeed, I do. I deal with them on a rather general basis,” Grey drawls. 

“I don’t know yours. I mean that’s not true. I know about your nightmares, and I know about your past. I don’t know why you weren’t ready for a relationship either.”

Grey slumps on the bar so that their eyes are level. He stares at her for a long moment, and Dex wonders what he’s trying to piece together from her head. “We promised never to lie, but I don’t think you’ll like my answer.”

Dex leans back and shrugs. She might not. With her there will always be the chance that the reasonable approach will lead to chaos, and the unreasonable route will lead to her nodding along, but this time she needs to know anyway. This one is too important for her to possibly not know what his answer is. “Tell me anyway.”

“I didn’t have one. I never did, and to be honest at this point, I doubt I ever will. I was willing to go on that date. I would have sat in the restaurant and pretended we were normal. I would have done just about everything we’ve done, only I would have taken you to bed at night and kiss you when I felt like it.”

Dex snorts, knowing that at least one of them knew that this relationship had never truly been platonic. She wishes they could have claimed that, but the first time they met they ended up in a bed. She wants to reach over and slap him on the shoulder for not telling her sooner, but she admits that if he had told her before she had asked she probably would have run away.

Grey turned away. His eyes had been darting away from her since he started his answer, and now he didn’t want to see the possible response she had. “Sorry, shouldn’t have laid it all out there. Should have told you that I wouldn’t answer that question.”

“Why? Because you think I’m running. Hate to tell you Grey, but for some unknown reason I’m not running this time. Could be my demons are bit quieter than they once more. Could be that you make my demons relax just a bit. You’ve been here since the highs and the lows. I used to think I killed everything I ever loved.”

“What changed?”

“You and Ansel. I love both of you. In different ways, thank the lord, but all the same I love you. Neither of you are dead, and there have been chances for the fates to kill you.”

Grey quirks the corner of his mouth up. “Not platonic then?”

“Grey, if you ever believed we were platonic, I’m going to have to drop you. You’re clearly too dull for me to hanging around as I’m trying to become a private detective.”

“An illegal private detective,” Grey points out.

“Exactly. Even more reason to be sure that they can’t doubt my ability to do my job.”

Grey nudges her detox closer to her then rolls his shoulders. “I’m going to close up, then we’re going to go home and have more of this discussion in private without distractions.”

Dex takes a swig of the detox. Her mind wanders once he leaves the vicinity. She told him there were two options with her demons. That’s not precisely true. There could be more reasons. Maybe it didn’t take therapy to cure her from the PTSD. Not likely, but possible. Maybe being on cases as a private investigator gave them an outlet that wasn’t violent. But she likes the one she gave him better. That he’s the reason that she’s calmer now. 

“Dex?” Ansel’s voice calls.

“Hey, buddy, how are you doing?”

“Good, but Grey is closing early.”

“Yeah, bud, I know. He wants to talk with me without having so many people all around.”

Only a couple minutes later did Grey show up ready to go. They walk to the apartment together. She doesn’t remember when it felt normal to walk home with Grey, to let him take care of Ansel too. All she knows is that it’s completely normal now.

So, she decides to shake things up. She doesn’t do well with routines, and she does even worse with normal. She grabs Grey’s hand when it swings and clutches it in hers. She won’t let go this time.

Once they’re in the apartment, and Ansel is happy elsewhere. Grey stares down at their joined hands and smiles. “My turn to ask a question.”

“Go ahead, it’s only fair.”

“Do you still want to be just friends?”

Dex lets out the air in her stomach as though he just asked her whether she wants to be a mass murderer or that he racked her in the diaphragm. She hadn’t thought this far ahead. Did she want to be more than friends? Then she pauses, as she remembers what she had come to the conclusion of earlier. They already were more than friends, they just didn’t cross a line. “We didn’t cross the line that I needed drawn, which was physical romance, because that’s all I ever knew. But we’ve crossed every other form of romance.”

“That’s not an answer, Dex. That’s carefully avoiding the truth, and this time I need you to be honest, and I need you to be clear.”

“Yes, I want us to be more than friends. I want our normal, and that includes the romance. Pain and everything else be screwed. We’re the authors of this story.”

Grey laughs then cups her face with his free hand. He leans in and brushes his lips across hers. Then, pulls back. “I’d prefer to take this slow.”

Dex leans into his embrace and lets out a content sigh. “I can handle that.”


End file.
